Revolution X: Saving Aerosmith..and Maybe the World

When you think of Aerosmith, you probably think of the songs “Dream On” or “Sweet Emotion.” You might think of their classic, 1975 album “Toys In the Attic” or the flamboyant, semi-androgynous looks and soaring vocals of lead singer Steven Tyler (the man who once said, “You’ve got no idea how expensive it is to look this cheap.”) If you grew up in the 80s, you might remember the weirdly brilliant mash-up of their hit “Walk This Way” performed by Run-DMC. The Bad Boys from Boston are rock and roll legends, with a whole slew gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums, 21 Top Forty hits, and four Grammy awards, but let’s not forget their greatest accomplishment: the 1994 arcade game Revolution X.

Given Steven Tyler’s pouty lips, extravagant style, and long, flowing hair (complete with platinum highlights) you might not think, “This guy needs to be put in a shooter game set in a dystopian future,” but you’d be oh, so wrong. Revolution X cast you as a fan of Aerosmith, living under the tyranny of the New Order Nation. The group, lead by Head Mistress Helga, have taken over the world and outlawed music, television, video games. In fact, the villainous NON are intent on eradicating anything that even remotely smells of teen spirit.

That is why they kidnap Aerosmith from a nightclub called…wait for it…Club X. It’s your job to rescue “America’s Greatest Rock Band” by travelling the world (visiting the Middle East, the Amazon, the Pacific Rim, and Wembley Stadium) to rescue each member of the band, while defeating NON Forces. How do you accomplish this? Well, obviously you do it by using an assault rifle and an explosive CD launcher. To get the highest score, you also need to rescue as many hostages as possible. Successfully rescue the members of the band and, not only have you save the world from the malevolent clutches of NON, but you’ll also get to party with the band.

The game was eventually ported to a variety of systems, including the SNES and Mega Drive, but the ports were generally panned by critics. None lived up to the arcade version. Sadly, the failure of the ports meant that a second version of the game, which would have featured Chuck D, Flava Flav, Terminator X, and the rest of Public Enemy, was never produced.

Shaun Jex is a lifelong gamer, a journalist, and pop culture historian.His love of video games began with a Commodore 64 he played growing up, late night sessions on his NES, Game Boy and Sega Genesis, and frequent trips to the local Tilt arcade. He edits the Citizens' Advocate newspaper in Coppell, Texas and writes about Disney and Walt Disney World history for Celebrations Magazine and the Celebrations Magazine blog. He runs a weekly vlog called "The MCP" dedicated to retro video games, and a channel with his wife Kara called "The Marceline Depot," dedicated to Disney, amusement parks, and travel.